1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and method for controlling the access rate of stations in a data packet switching network, comprising a number of transmitting/receiving stations interconnected by radio communication channels through which data packets can be transferred from one station to another according to a routing scheme.
2. Description of the Related Art
Channel access control protocols aim at maximizing the throughput of the radio channel by optimally tuning some control variables. In pure and slotted ALOHA networks, the control variables determine the rate at which each station transmits, while in CSMA networks, they determined the rate at which each station senses the channel. In the remainder of this application, the access rate of a station shall be understood to mean the rate at which a station transmits (in an ALOHA network) or senses the channel (in a CSMA network). In a single hop topology, there is conceptually one single channel and relatively well understood relations exist between the throughput of the channel and the control variables. These relations provide clear objectives to tune the control variables. In multihop topologies, there may be conceptually as many independent channels as there are stations, and no accurate relation exists for the global throughput.